Jin

Il n’est pas étoilé pour rien!
Une de mes meilleures expérience culinaire de ma vie.
Adepte du japonais, j’ai redécouvert la culture japonaise grâce à son chef et au spectacle que l’on a eu durant toute soirée.
Quand l’on arrive, nous sommes accueillis par de chaleureuses serveuses qui nous propose d’office du saké (dont la carte est très étendue) et des mets supplémentaires que l’on peut ajouter au menu unique choisi selon l’humeur du chef… et Dieu sait qu’on peut lui faire confiance.
Tout au long de la soirée défilent une multitudes de mets, tous plus raffinés les uns que les autres.
Thon, hareng, saumon, boeuf, coquillage, travaillés et embellis par le chef et englutis par nous…
Rien que d’écrire j’en ai l’eau à la bouche.
Après ce spectacle, à notre sortie, le chef nous honore en venant nous saluer jusqu’à l’extérieur de la rue. Il né rentre que lorsque nous avons quitté la rue.
La salle est très intimiste (environ 8 personnes), avec comme unique table le bar en bois massif et pure longeant la cuisine du chef. Le silence règne, seul le son du couteau et nos exclamations face au spectacle résonnent.

Jin is a gem. Bearing in mind that desired gems are rare and come at a price, I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a night out that blows the ordinary out of the water.
I needed a restaurant for my girlfriend’s 30^th birthday dinner and looked at Unilocal and other sites for advice. Asian seemed appealing and then I saw that Jin had recently received a Michelin star but had no Unilocal reviews…
First we arrive and the welcome is very polite and kind. The cadre is very Japanese and to me seems like a very authentic presentation of what I imagine a top sushi place would be like in Japan. Following along the lines of the décor, in a very Japanese fashion, the quiet hostess took our coats and politely asked us what we would like to drink to start. We ordered sparkling saki and were ushered to our seats at a beautiful solid wood bar surrounding two expert sushi artists busy at work. There are only 12 seats in the bar so it is almost more of a «spectacle» than a simple meal.
The individual courses then began to come out one by one and we were amazed by the finesse and detail of each one. I especially loved the monkfish liver and a crunchy seaweed hand roll.
We had finished our sparkling saki (fun to try but not amazing) and ordered a bottle of saki as recommended by our server. This was the most amazing rice wine I have ever tasted. It was floral and fruity and far better than many reputable white «grape» wines I have sampled in France and elsewhere. I highly recommend taking their advice for saki — it has nothing to do with what one might chase a bottle of Kiren with at your neighborhood sushi joint.
Then the sushi started to arrive before us piece by piece: each one carefully crafted and beautifully presented. It was heavenly. I learned also that ginger is not to be eaten with the sushi but rather between pieces to cleanse your mouth and renew your taste buds for the next one.
The two chefs remained very quiet and did not interact more than to present us with our next sushi delight. If we asked questions, whispered responses where given in Japanese to our server who then translated.
After enjoying a remarkable evening, we embarked for the door and were met by the very warm and courteous head chef who had left his post to bid us farewell. He invited us to return and as we walked away, he remained on the front stoop of the restaurant waving goodbye and smiling until we turned the corner two blocks down the street.
I’d give 6 stars if I could. The 135 € menu and then drinks on top means this is not a restaurant for every month or even every year. But I am thrilled to have shared the experience with someone I care for deeply and want to go back as soon as I can save up enough to do so. ;)
Thank you Jin!